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About Forest Grove press. (Forest Grove, Or.) 1909-1914 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1913)
5 FOREST GROVE PRESS. FOREST GROVE. OREGON. TH U R SD AY, F E B R U A R Y 20. 1913. NOTICE 10 % Discount The War Fifty Years Ago Midwinter Lull In Active Campaigning— Confederates Active on Land In the East and in the West— A Dead lock on the Rappahannock River In Virginia— The Armies of Hooker and Lee Watch Each Other From Opposite Banks— Grant Begins Regular Operations Against Vicksburg— Admiral Porter’s Fleet of Fed eral Ships on the Mississippi— Obstacles In the Way of an Attack by Land Troops or Warships. Naval Plans Afoot. B y Captain CEO. L. K IL M E R . Lata U. L V . will be given on all H E A T IN G STOVES W . O . W agner & Sons proposed to cut a canal across the In tervening ground and open up a wa terway through n system o f rivers and bayous extending hundreds o f miles south to Red river. This would enable the army under Grant to unite with the army in General N. I*. Banks' de partment, which was preparing to at tack Port Hudson. Some of the connecting bayous which would have to be cleared of ob structions were at tlie time merely wooded swamps. Grant declared that he hadn't much faith In tills route, hut let tlie work o f opening lip a waterway go on bocause employment was better than idleness to keep the troops in trim. Besides, this work was a cover for other operations. T tbis time tifty years ago the hostile activities on laud were eotiQued almost exclusively to Confederate initiative. The ; Federal Army of the Potomac was be ing prepared for an early spring cam paign by its new commander, LJeneral Joseph Hooker. It was separated from its antagonist, the army led by General K. E. I.ee, by the Rappahannock river. I.ee was waiting iu bis camps on the south bank for Ids foe to cross over and o|ieu the attack. Hooker would be compelled to do this, however haz ardous. iu order to carry out ttie pro- iram which the Lincoln government hud adopted. Hooker's predecessor. General A. E. Burnside, had made a disastrous fail- A Farther up the river, on the east side, was an abandoned and obstructed pass from the Mississippi, through Moon lake into the Cold water and other navi gable rivers coiitrihutary to the Yazoo. The Yazoo Hows Into the Mississippi close to Vicksburg. Early In February Colonel J. II. Wilson, an engineer on Grant's staff, cut through the levee separating the river waters from the lake. The waters rushed through on a full o f nine, feet and opened u channel 200 feet wide. After some days the lake was filled, and Rear Admiral 1). D. Porter detail ed two ironclads, with several light draft gunboats from the upper Missis sippi licet, to explore the tiew water route, if navigable it might enable Grant to transport an army to high, dry ground east of Vicksburg. He could then attack the fortress from the rear. But the Confederates were wise, too. and vigilant. They hnd alrendy put obstructions in the way by felling trees along tlie banks o f the pass to the Cold- water. A Federal army contingent was called on to assist the navy in clearing tlie channel. This work was but barely begun the third week In February. Meauwhile tlie Confederates, looking far ahead, had begun the construction o f a fort at (he junction o f the Talla hatchie and Yazoo. 100 miles or more northeast of Vicksburg. This was be ing armed and garrisoned to repel Por ter's ships while they were still strug gling through l he channel obstructions fifty miles away. at Spring Hill, a few hours' ride dis tant from Franklin. Forrest's force joined him there the third week in February, increasing Ids command to 10.000 men. With these he prepared to make a hold dash into Nashville. Swamp Barriers at Vicksburg. This time tifty years ago tlie first stage of the siege of Vicksburg was taking shape. The season was rainy, and the vital problem for General Grant, freshly assigned to full com mand In that region, was to secure a footing on dry ground for his army within striking distance of his adver sary, Vicksburg stands on high ground east o f tile Mississippi. But tlie high land is isolated on the north and east. Grant was ou the west side, where the land in ttie rainy season is barely Forest Grove, Oregon Main Street Garage Auto Repairing, Vulcanizing and General Machine Work. Storage and Supplies. Phone Main 62X Porter's Vigilance. W . A . CHALM ERS, The Federal army was kept at a dis tance from Vicksburg by Impassable swamp lands, hut the navy alwuys had a clear course on the Mississippi, al most up to the muzzles of the Confed erate guns. These guns on land were too much for those aboard ship. H ow ever. there was advantage In being able to get a vessel safely past them now and then. Porter's headquarters were on the wooden steamer Black Hawk, a roomy and powerful packet. She was without armor o f any kind. At that time there were ironclads of heavy armor and of light armor In the fleet, hut they were unwieldy and slow, and great reliance was placed upon stout wooden ships because of their superior speed. The wooden Queen o f the West, under Colo nel Filet, ran past tlie guns on the bluff early In (lie month, and on the t.'ttli (lie Ironclad Indianola followed. The object of these exploits was to get control of Red river, down which supplies were transported to the Con federate forces at Vicksburg nnd Port Hudson. Ellet lost his ship on Red riv er on Feb. 14, and on the 21st the In dianola was stationed off its mouth on blockading duty. There was naval fighting ahead on these two Vicksburg problems, the con trol of Red river and the opening of the Yazoo route. Meanwhile Porter’s mortar boats stationed In the river kept up a steady fire upon the Vicksburg de- Main Street, Forest Grove. The Approach of Spring is the signal for greater effort in all lines o f endeavor. Warm er and dryer weather means greater activity in b u i l d i n g operations. Now Is the Time to Start work on your new residence, store building, barn or other structure. When you are ready to start That New House, get our estimates on all the ma terial you will require. Wiilis-Place Lumber Co., Phone 024X. So. A St., Forest Grove. TH E S T A R T H E A T R E Motion Picture Exhibition The Best Pictures Obtainable Every Film A Winner Drama, Comedy. Laughter and Pathos L ook! Can You Beat It ? Dress Fabrics.......................... at 50c per yard Corn........................................... 3 cans for 25c Tomatoes, ............................... 3 cans for 25c String Beans.................................. 10c per can p e a s ,.......................................... 15c. 2 for 25c Discount in trade for 5 r~j /C Cash in 30 days at The Sun-Rise Grocery Pacific Avenue and 3rd Street. Copyright by Patriot Publishing company. M ISSISSIPPI SW AM PS W H ICH B A F F LE D A N D NAVY. lire in trying to pass his army on the road to Richmond beyond the Rappa hannock in the face o f Lee's army. Nevertheless the powers in Washing ton insisted upon a repetition of the attempt. When appointing Hooker to succeed Burnside President Lincoln had cau tioned him against rashness. The new incumbent proposed to avoid that by maneuvering so ns to cross the river beyond the view of Lee's army. Lee Not Alarmed. It was evident that General Lee hnd no fear that Hooker would spring an attack and rout his army, for he de- tached two o f Ills best divisions for service in southeastern Virginia. He also sent with them ns commander one of his two ablest marshals. General James Longstreet. Ixiugstreet took with him to Suffolk 18.000 men. This depletion of force left Lee with 00,000 to co|»e with the 130.000 which Hooker could bring into battle. J.ee's vigilant cavalry, the troopers led by .leb Stuart and Fltx- htigh I.ee, kept an unceasing watch at all the fords and practicable crossings o f tlie river to see to It that Hooker should not effect a surprise with Ids odds o f 2 to 1. Hooker reorganized his cavalry in February and formed It into a corps under the leadership o f General George Stoneman. An occasional skirmish along the river broke the monotony of life In winter quarters, but there were no saber battles 111 Virginia the third week in February, 18(53. THE FEDERAL A ILVIY above water. So limited was the dry ground near Vicksburg that one corps o f the army was encamped around Lake Providence, seventy miles up stream. North and northeast of Vicksburg the land is cut up by bayous which are filled from the Mississippi waters when these are at a ttoofl. as In the winter of 18(52-3. When Hooded the bayous and the channels leading Into and from them are o f navigable depth, hut the courses were tortuous nnd grown up with trees from ten to thirty years old. To march an attacking army across this stretch of swamp land was Impos- T@W3ÜS IS T w o Pastors Necessary. Orenco, Or.—Orenco and Reed- v i l l e Presbyterian churches, which have been served under one pastorate for the past five years, are to he separated, each church to have its individual pas tor. Rev. Mr. Welch served the two churches for about four yeais up to about a year ago, the two churches being cared for since by Rev. Myron Boozer. I The two churches have grown to ; such memberships that it lias been found advisable to divide the charge, having one for this | place and one for Reedville. It is quite probable that the Rev. Mr. Boozer will go to the Reed ville church, thus leaving the Orenco church open for a new pastor. February sale o f high class furniture at Paterson’ s Furni ture Store, Forest Grove. Your opportunity to secure bargains. Come in now. 14tf. “ Pollination” is Topic. Orenco, Or.— Professor E. J. Kraus, o f the Oregon Agricultur al College, addressed the Orenco Horticultural Study Club on “ Pol lination” recently. While his views were much more conserva tive on this subject than those held by some writers, he brought out forcibly the actual benefits of pollination to the fruit grower. He said that the three most im portant ways in which pollination affects fruit are, first, an increase in percentage o f set; second, increase in uniformity o f crop; third, change in size o f the fruit. He said that flavor, quality, keep ing power and color o f the fruit probably were not affected. W ife Has Husband Jailed. Portland.— On complaint o f his wife, Wilmer Cooper, formerly o f Wasco, now a farmer at Sher wood, was sentenced to five days imprisonment for carrying a con cealed weapon, in Justice Jones’ court Saturday. Family discussion covering a long period is said to be back o f the arrest, which was made by Deputy Constable Hunter at the St. Charles Hotel, where the pair were staying. Paving Hillsboro Streets. Hillsboro, Ore.—The Warren Construction Company has set up a portable mixer and has a force at work finishing the gravel bi- tulithic pavement on Washington street, along the Oregon Electric Railway. The City Council con templates improving several blocks o f street leading out o f town to the southeast, probably using macadam to connect with the county roads. Put your ad in the Press. • < r 1 w o F ’ i The Proof Is Her& •" .■yMWwiMi it Activities In the West. The opposing armies In Tennessee oc cupied winter quarters thirty-six miles apart. The Federal army o f the Cum berland. under General \V. S. Rose- ernns, remained on the scene o f Its vic tory at the beginning o f the year, on Stone's river around Murfreesboro. Its opponent. General Bragg's Confederate Army o f the Tennessee, lay behind a shelter o f breastworks at Tullaboma, south o f Duck river. Bragg's command Included a very ef ficient body o f cavalry, led at this time fifty years ago by General "Joe" Whee ler. General Earl Vnn Dorn and Gen eral N. B. Forrest. A fter their failure to recapture Fort Donelsoti on the 3d of the mouth Wheeler and Forrest sep arated. Forrest moving eastward to continue his operations against the Federal defenders o f Nashville. Van Dorn bad been transferred from a general command to the leadership o f the cavalry o f Bragg’s army. Start ing from Columbia, on Duck river, he llegan to establish outposts and picket lines within sight o f Franklin and Trt- nne. points occupied by Federáis to guard against a surprise at Nashville Van Dorn pitched his headquarters Ena Adjjj&osM Copyright by Review of Reviews company. T H E B LA C K H A W K . A D M IR A L D D T H E V IC K S B U R O slide, and to navigate the waters with warships and transports was out of the question until the channels should be opened lip. Experiments With Canals. In the previous summer, when Knr- rngnt's warships were repulsed by the Confederate guns on the bluffs at Vicksburg. General Thomas Williams begun the construction o f a canal across a peninsula opposite tlie town. The distance across is a mile, and It was thought that n channel could lie opened which would Pliable the Feder al ships to pass up and down the Mis sissippi without running the gantlet o f Confederate fire. Grant's troops be gan to revive Mils project, which had been abandoned on account o f low water. Another canal project was afoot at Lake Providence, also on the west side. The lake had formerly lieen the bed o f the river nnd was one mile ( distant from the new channel. It was PO RTER'S F I.A G S n iP C AM PAIG N . D U RING fenscs. Many of these were skillfully concealed from view; others were lo cated by the nlil of a photographer's camera, which gave timely aid to the Federal gunners. At Mils time fifty years ago Impor tant changes iu the positions o f the Coil federate defenders o f Vicksburg were U-lug made. In spite o f the ob stacles confronting Grant’s land col umns and Porter's ships and boats great financial resources were hack of them. The Confederate lenders were too wise to despise their energetic foe- men. even If nature and the elements were against them. General Pemberton, the Confederate commander at Vicksburg, remained at Jackson. Miss., a railroad center, with connections to Vicksburg on the west and Granada on the north. Granada was on the route from the northeast, which the Fcdcrals might follow to lmlkp „ nftnrk About 2U.000 ar<w>|os were encamped at Granada and on j|le Vicksburg lines. Every statement we make about our store, goods and methods, may be easily proved by coming here and testing us. We claim to have a good store, to sell w o r t h y goods and to provide ex emplary service, and we do. You take no chances in testing us, as we make good anthing that is not satisfactory. T ry us when drugs and medicines are needed or when you desire any item usually found at a first- cla8s drug store. W e have the goods ourstock is unusually complete. Van Koughnet & Reder Forest Grove, Oregon